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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. season — in sport
  4. chest — a box
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. spring — the season
  7. chest — of your body
  8. game — a match
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bore — to tire
  11. rock — music
  12. fall — to drop
  13. chair — a leader
  14. rock — a stone
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fall — to drop
  17. season — of the year
  18. fall — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. bore — to drill
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — wild animals

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com